Exhibit highlights "The West the Railroads Made"

A national traveling exhibit depicting the impact made by U.S. railroading will arrive at the MercantileLibrary at the University of Missouri-St. Louis on Saturday, March 7, where it will run through Sept. 20. It is free and open to the public.

Sponsored by the John W. Barriger III National Railroad Library at UMSL’s Mercantile Library and the Washington State Historical Society, the exhibit tells how America’s railroads and the West helped shape each other, changing the character of the nation’s population and its landscape. The exhibit offers more than 4,000 square feet of paintings, photographs, and three-dimensional objects, along with video, audio,and interactive media, illustrates those major changes in this country.

The exhibit ran for nearly nine months at the Washington State History Museum in Tacoma, Wash., and will travel to Portland, Ore., after its stint inSt. Louis in September.

“Most Americans don’t have a grasp of the significance of how the railroads shaped the West, and how they influenced our economy, society and culture,” said Greg Ames, director of the Barriger Railroad Library. “One of the goals of this exhibit is to bring railroads back into the public consciousness."

For more information, including exhibit hours, directions, and/or parking information, visit the BarrigerLibrary website, www.umsl.edu/barriger,or call 314-516-7240.Memberships to the Barriger Library are available.